one day, can fulfil their childhood ambitions.

Wigan Athletic manager Gary Caldwell and striker Will Grigg have been rewarded for their role in securing promotion after they were nominated for the Sky Bet League One Manager and Player of the Month awards for April. Caldwell secured promotion to the Championship in his first season as a manager. Will Grigg scored seven goals in six games helped to seal the Latics promotion A haul of 13 points from six games was underpinned by exciting attacking play and two convincing away victories - 5-1 at Shrewsbury Town and 4-0 at Blackpool. Grigg secured a second successive nomination after his seven goals in six games helped to seal the Latics promotion. Highlights of Wigans 4-0 win at Blackpool on Saturday, which secured promotion His predatory instincts were on show with the braces he netted against Shrewsbury and Southend.Scunthorpe boss Graham Alexander has also earned a nomination for manager of the month. Scunthorpe won five successive games under Graham Alexander in April After a narrow defeat to begin the month, victory over second-placed Burton was the first of five successive wins which lifted Scunthorpe to the fringe of the play-off places and underlined Alexanders impact since returning to Glanford Park, where he began his playing career.Bradfords Phil Parkinson also gets the nod. His steady influence helped the Bantams secure a League One play-off berth. Bradford City manager Phil Parkinson is up for the April award The highlight of a month in which they collected 13 points from 18 while conceding just two goals was a convincing 4-0 win over promotion rivals Walsall.Oldham manager John Sheridan completes the quartet of nominees. After reviving Newports League Two fortunes in the autumn, he guided the Latics to safety in League One. John Sheridan has led Oldham Athletic to 13 points from seven games, and league one safety Thirteen points from seven games with the aid of four clean sheets completed the task.Oldham and Scunthorpe also have players nominated for the April award.Curtis Mains achievements at Boundary Park have been recognised. He scored the only goal in crucial wins over Walsall and Southend, with four goals in his sides tally of seven proving vital in securing Oldhams League One status. Doncaster Rovers Curtis Main goalscoring has been crucial this month Scunthorpe winger Luke Williams also gets a nod, with his natural attacking instincts inspiring The Irons promotion push. Scunthorpe winger Luke Williams has been nominated for Aprils Player of the Month award Williams is happy to take on defenders or find his way into central positions, as he did to score three goals in the month.Finally, Millwall defender Byron Webster is nominated after he became a central figure in a backline missing the experienced Tony Craig. Byron Webster has been a key player for Millwall this month Allied to his organisational nous and positional sense at the back is his knack for scoring headers at the other end of the pitch, with three goals at set pieces in April.The winners will be announced on Sky Sports News HQ from 6am on Friday May 6. Also See: League One video Fixtures Table Live on Sky Get Sky Sports Melker Karlsson Sharks Jersey .J. - Trying to learn and absorb the new West Coast offence being installed by new offensive co-ordinator Ben McAdoo, the New York Giants wrapped their final organized team activity Thursday before a three-day mini-camp next week. Barclay Goodrow Sharks Jersey . The Toronto Maple Leafs were holding a news conference, so they got curious. It didnt take long for them to find out via social media that coach Randy Carlyle was coming back — with a two-year extension — and assistants Greg Cronin, Scott Gordon and Dave Farrish were being let go. http://www.officialsharksnhlshop.com/erik-karlsson-jersey/ . The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists detailed in a report how Russian and international journalists have been harassed and prevented from covering sensitive stories in Sochi such as the abuse of migrant workers and environmental issues. San Jose Sharks Jerseys . Alfredo Simon lowered his ERA to 0.86, and the Reds beat the Chicago Cubs 4-1 Friday for their 16th win in their last 17 games at the Friendly Confines. Custom San Jose Sharks Jerseys . John Albert Elway, 24, was booked into jail early Saturday morning after an incident near a college campus in downtown Denver, according to jail records.As Manchester United were edging Manchester City in a five-goal thriller, Juventus were triumphing in the Turin derby and Barcelona squeaked home 1-0 at the Nou Camp, thousands of miles away in California something far more soccer-significant was occurring. The post-match fireworks were purchased. Final preparations were in place. The FIFA president was in town. It was April 6, 1996. Spartan Stadium, the home of San Jose State University, was about to play host to the inaugural match in Major League Soccer when the hometown Clash took on D.C. United in front of a sold-out crowd approaching 32,000. You have to trace it all the way back to American Independence Day, 1988 for when the first MLS seeds were sown. This was the day the US beat back other bids, including one from Brazil, for the rights to host the 1994 World Cup finals. Those rights came with a caveat, one condition from the world governing body: FIFA mandated the United States Soccer Federation to structure a top-flight league. Easier said than done. The year before those 1994 World Cup finals, which eventually would go on to draw a record number of fans, MLS hired its first employee - Mark Abbott. A lawyer by trade, Abbotts soccer connection came via a law colleague, Alan Rothenberg, who was also the president of the USSF. With Rothenberg appointed as CEO of USA 94, it was left to Abbott to draw up MLSs constitution. Then, in his spare time, Abbott criss-crossed the nation in the search for founding investors. A total of 10 clubs took part in that inaugural season. D.C. United, defeated 1-0 during the season opener in San Jose, would eventually go on and be crowned champions when they beat the Los Angeles Galaxy 2-1 in the first MLS Cup. Saturday afternoon in Seattle, MLSs 19th season gets underway when the Sounders, a club like the Whitecaps celebrating their 40th-anniversary, entertain the current champions, Sporting Kansas City. To show the measure of how far MLS has journeyed in the intervening years, MLS Cup 1996, which was played in Foxboro, Massachusetts, attracted a crowd of just over 35,000. Today, the Sounders claim that same amount of supporters in season ticket holders. This is not to say that MLS has not had its share of let downs and disappointments. The leagues worst moment happened just ahead of the 2002 season with contraction occurring and gone were the Miami Fusion and the Tampa Bay Mutiny. Long gone, though, are the days MLS teams were merely tenants in NFL buildings - begging their landlords to go easy on the rent and allow them access to the stadiums to play matches on days and at a time of day which were most preferable to attracting in the fans the league so desperately needed. Like all sports teams who look to build on the previous seasons accomplishments, MLS will, as well, in 2014. Nobody needs reminding that we are in a World Cup year and the mommentum those previous tournaments have provided the league.dddddddddddd As it did for South Africa 2010, MLS will shut down for the opening fortnight of group games this June. During this time, the league has mandated each of its clubs, along with the players to be active in their communities. One of Toronto FCs newest designated players, Jermain Defoe, was part of Englands squad for their World Cup warm-up friendly against Denmark at Wembley in midweek. You can be guaranteed that, come the conclusion of Brazil 2014, a number of other players will make the transition to MLS. The most famous of the class of South Africa 2010 to do just that was Thierry Henry, who went into that World Cup still a Barcelona player. Three days after the World Cup final, Henry was introduced as a member of the New York Red Bulls (who visit the Whitecaps on Saturday, live on TSN at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt). This year is also a pivotal one for soccer in Canada and not just for our three MLS clubs. In January, the Canadian Soccer Association announced it will bid to host the 2026 World Cup finals. In August, we host the FIFA U-20 Womens World Cup finals and, in April, the Ottawa Fury kick off their inaugural NASL campaign. As for our three MLS clubs, Toronto FC have set the bar awfully high. Whilst they sit out the opening weekends fixtures and have a final week of preparation before opening their season in Seattle next Saturday, nothing short of a playoff berth will suffice. With new head coaches at the helm in Vancouver and Montreal, expectations are less lofty. The so-called opinion makers across the league have already written off their chances to make the post-season. However, thats on paper and we all know matches are won and lost on the pitch. Flying under the radar could work to their advantage. As MLS has blossomed and flourished over the years, it has given rise to allow the soccer-playing kids right across North America to dream and believe that they, one day, can fulfil their childhood ambitions. Tell Patrice Bernier when he was a prospect in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League that one day he would share a flight with the 1993 Stanley Cup-winning captain of the Montreal Canadiens, Guy Carbonneau. The Impact left for Dallas yesterday morning where they open their season on Saturday night. Bernier is now the captain of a club that just so happen to play in one of the best attended leagues in all of world football. Then, share a thought for Matt Besler, who will lead the MLS Cup holders Sporting KC out onto the pitch in Seattle on Saturday afternoon. During that inaugural MLS season in 1996, Sporting KC were known as the Kansas City Wiz. Playing their matches out of the NFL Chiefs Arrowhead Stadium , where a nine-year-old Besler served as a ballboy. You can reach and follow Noel Butler at:Noel.Butler@BellMedia.ca and @TheSoccerNoel on Twitter ' ' '